Quick Facts
Biography
Charles Covington (NM) is an American jazz pianist and a U.S. Life Master in chess. His United States Chess Federation rating is 2215. He recently retired from his position as Chairman of the Department of Music at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Charles Covington, Jr., is a professor of music at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland. The pianist has been the featured performer for President Carter at the White House and with George Benson on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Covington's career includes celebrity performances with the likes of Sammy Davis, Jr., Eartha Kitt, Larry King, Henry Kissinger, Redd Foxx, and Flip Wilson. He has also been in concert with Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Eddie Harris, Zoot Simms, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, David "Fathead" Newman, J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding, Herbie Hancock, Hank Jones, Dorothy Donnegan, Shirley Horn, B.B. King, and Chuck Berry.
The music director for "Jazz at Harbor Place" in Baltimore, and was the Jazz Pianist in Residence at Kennedy Center. He is a world-renowned Hammond B-3 Organ virtuoso and performs at Kennedy Center and other venues with his trio. Mr. Covington is also one of the top ten black chess players in America and has a "Life Master" status granted by the United States Chess Federation. Additionally he is a professional magician and has published a manuscript for magicians that is sold in magic shops nationwide, and, as a professional visual artist, Mr. Covington specializes in portraits. These accomplishments were preceded by his Commission in the U.S.Army as an Officer, something rare at the time for a black man in the military. Mr. Covington has also competed in his weight class in Weightlifting, and teaches a select group of piano students privately.
Discography
With J. J. Johnson and Kai Winding
- Betwixt & Between (A&M/CTI, 1969)
With Gary Thomas
- Exile's Gate (JMT, 1993)